


And Then, You.

by AllyMichele



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Angst, College, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Smut, I'm Bad At Tagging, OC characters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Underfell Sans (Undertale), heavy stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:27:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22289383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllyMichele/pseuds/AllyMichele
Summary: The barrier is broken. Monsters are free. And a whole lot shit has gone down.Y/N and Red had dated for a year before he left her on the side of the road, literally. He saw his love as a weakness and so, he took care of it the only way he knew how. Abandonment.Meanwhile, Y/N was left to pick up the pieces of the mess that he had caused. She was trying to hate him but failed every time. She just had to accept the fact that it was over and move on. And so she did.Fast forward to 3 years later and Y/N is a senior in college, living with her best friend Jo, and giving life her full potential. Jo was telling her about a new boyfriend she took up over the summer break, whose name was Blue. She really wanted Y/N to come over for dinner to meet him to which Y/N happily agreed, excited for her friend.Until they pulled into a house Y/N knew all to well. And a skeleton she had been trying to forget.
Relationships: Sans (Underfell)/ Reader, Sans (Underswap)/OC, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	1. How It Happened (Pt. 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is a brand new story that I have come up with and I hope you guys enjoy it! I don't write a lot so please bear with me and constructive criticism is always welcome. The first two chapters of this story are going to be in the past when Reader and Red first meet but after that it will be all present! Please leave comments and kudos! Have fun!

**Friday, March 30th of 2017.**  
“We have multiple reports of people sighting things coming down from Mt. Ebott, can you confirm this?”

“We can assure everyone that we are looking into this. However, those reports are false. There is nothing in Mt. Ebott nor nothing around Mt. Ebott.”

“But sir, there a multiple pictures of things-” 

“What are you suggesting reporter? Are you gonna believe these people, the same ones who claim they were abducted by aliens or-”

“OH MY GOD”

“What the fuck is that?”

“Mayor Calloway! Mayor Calloway!”  
_______________________________________________________________________________  
Y/N was watching the news on the tiny TV in her dorm room with Jo when it suddenly cut off. The girls turned to each other with raised eyebrows before another tremor rocked their building.

“Maybe we should duck and cover? These earthquakes have been going on all day and I don’t really want to die our first year here.” Jo suggests, not waiting for Y/N to reply while she grabs her blankets and wedges herself underneath the bed. 

“But did you see what I saw, Jo? Something was right behind Mayor Calloway that made them cut a live broadcast. What if the skeptics are right?” Y/N says, crawling over to their window and peeking out the curtain towards the mountain.

The tremors had indeed been going on all day and with all of these “sightings” people were having, Y/N couldn’t help but to wonder if they were true. If the old history of Ebott was not a myth but instead an answer. Jo obviously didn’t believe in it, the insane hypotheticals that monsters were real and hiding underneath a mountain was an old horror story. It was just seismic activity in the middle of the country that was nowhere near a fault line. That was it. But Y/N did enjoy going back and forth with her best friend, even if she was a little afraid.

**“BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.”**

The television suddenly had the national emergency warning signal flashing across the screen, making Jo hide even further under the bed. 

“Y/N!!! Get the fuck under here right now! That’s the warning for an earthquake you idiot!” Jo yells, trying to cover her ears to block out the wail of the siren. 

“Jo I don’t think it’s an earthq-”

**“This is the national emergency warning system. An unidentified species has come out of Mt. Ebott. Take shelter now. Do not come out of the shelter until an authorized emergency service has come for you. Repeat. Take shelter now. Do not come out of the shelter.”**

Jo and Y/N looked at each other, the warning continuing to repeat over and over again.

Y/N was right. Monsters.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
 **Monday, May 9th of 2017.**

It had been about 2 months since the Monsters had broken through the barrier, as they called it, and tried to come into Ebott. This obviously did not go over well. After the announcement had come over the TV it seemed everyone thought the world was ending. People with guns stood outside of their houses while others ran to churches to pray to be saved. News stations all over the world were talking about the “End of Time” with all sorts of guests coming on to talk about how this was because God was punishing us, or that these Monsters were actually the Devil’s workers and were here to steal our souls. Y/N personally thought it was all a little too much. 

Military personnel were immediately deployed to Ebott and set up a perimeter. Nobody was allowed in and nobody was allowed out. College classes were cancelled, businesses shut down for a week, it was like a ghost town. Everyone was on the edge of their seat to see what exactly these Monsters wanted. Did they want to kill us? Eat us? Colonize our land? Vaporize us?

The real answer is not nearly as dramatic. They wanted peace. They all had been locked in the mountain for god knows how long and they just wanted their freedom, to live peacefully with humans. Everyone could understand wanting freedom, right? Yeah, no.

The Monsters were originally forced back into the mountain for two weeks. They went peacefully to everyone’s surprise but that ultimately helped them because the military, after talking to the Queens and Kings who looked very much alike, decided that they really did want peace. So, we graciously set up a two acre plot of land for the monsters to live in. It obviously was not enough for the Monsters. They had to sleep in tents, the place was surrounded by electric fences, and the food they had was barely enough. It was this that sparked protests.

News reporters showed exactly how these Monsters were living and once people saw that they were peaceful, HUGE protests broke out all across the world. People were marching on Capitol Hill, Buckingham Palace, every major city landmark was taken over by people fighting to let these Monsters be treated as equals, not prisoners. Hell, we treat our prisoners better than the Monsters were living! 

The biggest protest was at Ebott though. People were coming in thousands to advocate for better housing, food, and freedom for the Monsters. Signs were made, a huge stage was set up to let people voice their opinions, it was the biggest gathering of people that Ebott had ever seen. There were also protests being held inside of Ebott, mainly on the campus because it was the largest area to meet at without stepping into a military area. 

“Y/N, are you sure you wanna go out there in that crowd? I mean they’ve already been sprayed by water twice this week and I don’t want you getting hurt.” Jo says, concern written all over her face as she watches her friend reach for her bag.

“Yes. I completely understand you wanting to stay out of it but I can’t just set my feelings of injustice aside for these Monsters. They have been nothing but civil and we are treating them like dirt.” Y/N states, her head up high as she puts on her shoes. She gives Jo one last smile before shutting the door to their dorm.

The hallways were lined with posters and people, all of them heading out to the meeting spot. Y/N couldn’t help but feel a little giddy as she walked ahead, her heart thumping with the thought of making a difference for these Monsters. As the doors opened in front of her she was immediately surrounded by the noise of the protests. It drowned out her own thoughts as she followed the crowd.

____________________________________________________________________________

The sky was turning a light shade of purple with stars springing up everywhere but there was no calming down the voices of the people on campus. Y/N had been out here for probably four hours now and her blood was still pumping as she held up her sign. One of the leaders had suggested walking over to the Monster’s camp which is where they were headed now. As long as they didn’t cross the line they shouldn’t get in trouble, right?

Y/N had her doubts about going but still followed. She had never gone over to the Monster’s camp before due to a small fear she held. She was ashamed to admit it but she did not know what these Monsters were like and if something went wrong, what they could do if they truly felt threatened. Of course she thought the same thing of the military of which she did not trust one bit. She had read enough of the history books to realize they could easily justify anything if need be. Still, Y/N persevered and continued on the dark path to the camp. They needed all the help they could get and that was more important than some silly fear. 

When everyone had arrived you could have heard a pin drop. Y/N guessed it was the first time most people in the group had seen the Monsters. She was way in the back but she could still hear the whispers and feel the uneasiness around her.

“THEY DESERVE FREEDOM.” A man yelled from the front, raising his fist,

“WHY DO YOU CAGE THEM? THEY HAVE SAID THEY WANTED PEACE? YOU ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE.” 

“YES! FREEDOM FOR MONSTERS!”

“FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!”

The chanting and yelling grew louder as the protestors found their confidence. People started raising their signs, screaming at the top of their lungs for all of Ebott to hear. Y/N soon joined them in their cries for equality. Pride swelled in her heart as the chants grew louder and louder, uniting everyone together for a just cause. It felt amazing and freeing. It gave Y/N an adrenaline rush like she had never had before.

**“POP!”**

Everyone froze as a gunshot rocked through the night. Nobody knew where it had come from, who had fired it, but all hell broke loose.

People started running in all directions, shoving past Y/N as the ducked for cover as more shots were heard. The sign was knocked out of her hand as a taller man literally pushed her onto the ground to get her out of the way. Y/N started to take quick breaths as she tried to crawl through the mass of people to the outskirts of the mob. 

‘ _At least I was in the back for once_ ’ She thought as she tried to make sense of where she was and where to go. The shots had stopped but she could hear people crying and other people screaming. It was making her head spin. Oh wait, that was the smoke that had been released. When had that gone off?

**“HELP ME! SOMEBODY PLEASE!”**

Y/N whipped her head around, rubbing at her tear filled eyes as she tried to find the voice. Someone was hurt and she damn well knew that nobody would hear them over the screams. She started to crawl towards the voice before stopping.

“Where are you?! I can help!” She called out, coughing as she inhaled some of the smoke that went directly into her chest. 

“Over here! Please…” The voice trailed off but it was enough for Y/N to find them. She got up and ran over, her arms covering her head just in case. She knelt down and almost immediately started to gag. 

The voice was a guy that she had seen at the head of the protests. Adam, maybe? He was very vocal for the Monsters and was at every rally. But he was covered in blood. It was seeping from his chest and pooling behind his back. Y/N could see he was trying to apply as much pressure as he could but it wasn’t working. He was staring up at her, his eyes showing a kind of terror that Y/N never wanted to see again. A terror that one only knows when they were about to die. 

Y/N immediately jumped into action, grabbing her jacket and pressing it into the wound as hard as she could. Her eyes were scanning over the rest of his body to make sure she hadn’t missed anything before going back to his face. He was looking up at the stars. 

“Hey buddy, it’s gonna be okay. Okay?” Y/N whispers, her arms shaking with the effort of holding his wound. She tried to look around to see if there was anyone that could help her but everything was still so smoky. She was starting to panic. She didn’t know anything about first aid. She didn’t know how she was going to save him. 

“Do you like the stars?” He asked, his voice hoarse.

What? Why was he asking her about the stars. There were more important things like the fact he was LITERALLY BLEEDING OUT. 

“I- uh yeah. I do. Do you?”

“Oh yes, I love them. I wanted to be an astronaut someday.”

“You will be! Everything will be okay, I promise.” Y/N shakily says, her voice cracking. She didn’t believe her own words. The smoke was starting to clear and she could hear voices around her but she was watching him. He was watching the stars. It was something so surreal. Y/N thought for a moment that she was in a dream, a horrible dream that one would never hope to have. But she wasn’t. She was watching this young man, a boy full of potential and love for the damn stars, die. 

It took everything in Y/N to not break down as she watched him take his last breath, a serene smile on his face as he stared at the stars for the last time. She felt his chest fall and a sob broke through her. She couldn’t save him. 

While Y/N slowly brushed his hair back over his face, the screams and cries died down. The smoke had cleared. But it was all background noise. Until someone roughly grabbed her arm and hoisted her up. 

“Don’t fucking touch me!” She cried, turning around to strike the person only to realize that no one was there. She looked around for a soldier or a student but they had either run away or were attending to other people. Her eyes looked around until she glanced over the fence that kept the Monsters inside and she gasped, stumbling backwards. 

Monsters were lined up against the fence, watching helplessly as the humans that were there to try and help them were gasping for breath. Most of them had tears in their eyes, others were shielding each other from the horror that was in front of them, and some of them looked numb. But there was one Monster that stood out. Y/N couldn’t make out exactly what kind of Monster they were. They had on a black jacket with a fur hood and basketball shorts maybe? But they had red eyes and it seemed to be staring directly at her. 

She drew a breath in before she broke eye contact with the Monster only to feel that tug on her arm again. She looked back at the fence and saw them with their hand raised. So that’s what tugged her. She squinted her eyes to see what they were trying to do before her bag was literally floating in front of her face, surrounded by a red sort of glow. 

Were they trying to help her? Trying to ground her and telling her to leave? Y/N did not know but she was thankful for the kind gesture, even if it wasn’t meant to be one.

“Thank you.” She whispered, looking back at the monster before grabbing her bag and turning around. 

A police officer ran up to Y/N and checked her over, noticing the blood staining her clothes. She could hear him asking her questions but she just stared at the poor boy, who was still looking up at the stars. The officer followed her eyes before grimacing, pity and guilt written all over his face. He said something to Y/N before wrapping her in a thermal blanket and walking her over to the paramedics. 

She looked back at the boy one last time before he was covered with a sheet. Her eyes rose back to the fence but the Monsters were gone. Tears slowly flowed down her cheeks as the paramedics looked her over. Y/N felt numb.


	2. How It Happened (Pt. 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I'm back! Thank you guys so much for the comments, kudos, bookmarks, and hits! It means so much that you guys liked this story. Also, I know I said that I was going to make the first two chapters the build up about Red and Reader's past relationship but I am actually going to change that to the first three chapters because there is just so much I want to cover before getting to the big plot! Also, I know that these chapters have been filled with angst but I PROMISE it's gonna get better! 
> 
> Enjoy!

**Wednesday, October 22nd of 2017.**  
It had been 5 months and 13 days since The Incident. Through all of the chaos it was learned that one of the students, Adam, had stepped forward and into the face of a guard who then shot him in the chest. Students lunged at the soldiers, soldiers fired on the students, it was chaos waiting to happen. At least that’s how most people described it...but they have no idea how it felt to be down there, hearing screams. It haunted Y/N Every. Single. Night.

______________________________________________  
That night when Y/N was cleared by the paramedics and was returned to her room, Jo was pacing nervously and tugging at her eyelashes. She immediately hugged Y/N with the force of a thousand people but she couldn’t feel anything. Y/N stared at the floor while her best friend openly sobbed into her neck, thanking the stars that she was alive.

That got Y/N to look up at her ceiling, when Jo thanked the stars. It was like she was reliving the event all over again. Her throat was starting to hurt and it wasn’t until Jo looked at her that she realized she was screaming.

“Are you hurt?! Come on, let’s go back to the nurse. Come on please Y/N.” Jo said in a hollow voice, her grip on Y/N’s wrist painfully tight.

That tight grasp was what finally broke Y/N, who looked at Jo and broke into hysterical wails. Jo immediately grabbed her and started running her fingers through her best friend’s hair, shushing her and rocking back and forth while Y/N continued to sob.

After awhile Jo had taken her to the bathroom and cleaned all the blood off of her all while humming to her. It made Y/N feel safe and grounded. The next day Jo and Y/N talked for a very long time, working through most of the guilt she felt and promising to see a therapist, which she did.

Jo was the one who suggested going to the press that next week to describe everything. It had lit a fire inside of Y/N when she heard so many conflicting stories and people believing things that didn’t happen, that those soldiers didn’t massacre eight students because they were peacefully protesting. And so that’s exactly what Y/N did.   
______________________________________________  
The week following The Incident Y/N got on national TV and told everyone everything, along with other fellow students who had been witness to that terrible night. She gave a first hand account and she made sure Adam had not gone down in vain. Her heart was on fire and she was angry. She spoke boldly. She did everything in her power to show everyone just how bad things were.

It worked. The protests grew and grew. Countries were slowly taking sides one by one, most in favor of giving the Monsters rights. There was a stain on America that they could not erase from this tragedy and it was getting worse and worse the longer they stalled. 

On June 1st, 2017, the President declared that Monsters were going to be a protected group of people and that while they were not granted all of the rights of citizenship, they were allowed to live in Ebott, hold jobs and land, and the right to freedom. 

That day can only be described as the biggest sigh of relief in history. The gates were torn down around them and the Monsters could finally move around and be FREE. There were tons of parties being held in Ebott in celebration and while there were of course people who were bitter, the majority took over and showed the Monsters just how wanted they were. Y/N had stayed in her dorm for the most part but she was watching from her window with a joyous smile on her face. She had gone out late that night when things were dying down and looked up at the stars. **It was a good day.**   
______________________________________________  
Fast forward to today, Oct. 22nd, and you wouldn’t be able to tell anything had happened in Ebott. People were bustling around, school was in session, and Monsters were free. Life was normal, or as normal as it could be and Y/N was so grateful for it. She had been craving normalcy since that night. As soon as her classes were back on she had thrown herself into her school work. Jo had been worried for her best friend but she knew Y/N was slowly healing herself so she was there for her as much as she could be. **It was all going to be okay.**

“Y/N...PLEASE come with me. It’ll be so much fun! And I promise you can leave if you aren’t having fun within an hour!” Jo pleaded, giving her best puppy dog eyes which only made Y/N roll her own.

“Jo, I really have to study and I don’t really like crowds. I just want to stay in.” She mutters, guilt creeping up her spine as she sees her friend deflate and go to her desk. 

Y/N wasn’t technically lying, she did have to study but the test wasn’t for another three weeks. And Jo has been there for Y/N a lot, staying in when she was having a Bad day when she knew there was a party going on. Y/N could do this. She could be there for her friend and have fun. 

“Okay fine, I’ll go. BUT I am not going to wear anything that isn’t comfy.” Y/N states, giggling as her best friend claps her hand. She grabs her phone and finds her old playlist that they used to listen to when getting ready to go out. The music rings out into the tiny dorm room as the two friends dance around, a genuine laugh bubbling out of Y/N as she breathes what seems the first breath of fresh air in years. **It’s all gonna be okay.**

The party, as Jo called it, was more like a concert. It was being held at some Monster’s house and it was packed full. Music seemed to be shaking the ground and the outside of the house was just as lively as the inside seemed. The pair of friends climbed out of their uber and stood at the door. Jo looked towards Y/N who seemed to be slowly turning white. 

“Hey, it’s okay. If it’s too much we can leave. But I am super proud of you for coming.” She said gently, squeezing Y/N’s hand which seemed to relax her. 

Y/N nodded at Jo and gave a small smile, the latter leading her into the party. It seemed to be like every other college party had been to her freshman year. A lot of drunk people, a smell that was definitely some type of drug, but a feeling of energy and youth one could only get from this type of party. It filled Y/N’s lung and gave her a boost of energy she desperately needed. She picked up her pace and was immediately surrounded by dancing bodies. 

“Hey Y/N! Glad you could finally make it!” Someone yelled over the music. Y/N turned and saw a mess of red curls that could only be Noah.

“Hey dude, what’s up?” She called back cheerfully, taking his hand and letting him spin her around. God, she really had missed this. 

“Not much. Baseball and shit, ya know.” Noah grinned, dancing along with Y/N as they fell into an easy conversation about school. 

He hadn’t seen much of Y/N since The Incident but he was glad she seemed to be getting back out there. Maybe he can push her in the right direction by introducing her back to all of their friends?

Y/N stopped talking when she realized Noah was deep in thought. She knew that look in his eyes and she really didn’t want to do whatever he was about to suggest but Jo had gone to drinks and she didn’t really want to be alone. She took a deep breath and reminded herself she was safe here and that everything was okay. While she was talking to herself, a drink was placed into her hand.

“Here, you look like you needed this.” Jo screams in her ear, giving her a pat on the back while talking to Noah. Y/N shot her a grateful look before downing the drink in two chugs. 

“Woah hey, slow down. This is monster alcohol so it’ll get you drunk a hell of a lot faster.” Her friend says, playfully tutting at her while grabbing another drink for her. 

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks mom.” Y/N says sarcastically even though she can already feel a little bit of a buzz going on in her head. _Fuck it, I’m here to have fun._

_Okay, I had too much fun._ Y/N thinks to herself as her head spins. She knows she should probably go find Jo or Noah but they are playing so many great songs and all of her old friends are out here. Surely she can stay for just a little while longer, right? The group she is dancing with now seems to think so as they hype her up in the middle of the dance floor. Y/N isn’t very good at dancing but luckily for her everyone just seems to be spinning and jumping which she can definitely manage. 

“Hey, do you wanna go upstairs?” Someone says hotly into her ear, making her scrunch up her neck. _Who is that? Why upstairs?_

“Huh? Why?” Y/N slurs, her vision blurring for a second as she is spun around by some tall guy. _Noah? No, his hair isn’t red. Unless Noah dyed his hair at this party._

The person chuckles and starts tugging her up the stairs and at this point Y/N is too drunk to even walk straight. She keeps trying to look up at the guy but can’t make out any distinctive features. Y/N stumbles up the stairs but can’t seem to get a good grip and that’s when she realizes how quiet everything has gotten. Where is she?

A bedroom is what she can make out. A bed...shaped like a racecar? _Are there children at this party? That’s not safe._ Y/N turns to voice her concerns to mystery man when he suddenly bends down and tries to kiss her.   
“Oh, um no thanks. I didn’t brush my teeth before I left.” Y/N mumbles, her stomach doing a flip as she stumbles back but he doesn’t leave her alone. In fact, he steps closer and grabs her roughly. Alarm bells ring in the back of her head.

“Hey dude, listen-”

**“she said no. can’t you take hint?”**

_Who the fuck was that?_

They both turned around to see...a skeleton? A mad skeleton apparently.

Y/N had seen a couple of skeletons around, especially one that was very loud but seemed friendly. She didn’t really pay them attention but something about this one made her look closer. 

“Fuck off.” Mystery man growled, letting go of her wrist to clench his fists beside him.

The skeleton chuckled darkly, his eyes glowing red as he didn’t back down from the weak threat. Wait… red eyes? Y/N blinked hard before she took him all in. Black jacket with fur, basketball shorts, socks, and house slippers? _Oh my god._

“Come on Y/N, let’s go back to the party.” The guy said, going to grab her arm again before she stepped closer to the Monster. The skeleton looked at Y/N for a moment before his sockets widen, reaching out to catch her just as stumbled and threw up all over his shoes.

“Oh, gross Y/N!” The dude gagged, holding his nose as he ran out of the room before he also threw up all over the floor. 

Y/N continued to vomit all over this poor skeleton’s shoes, unable to do anything but silently pray that they weren’t expensive. After she was done and could stand on her own, the skeleton gave her a towel to wipe herself off with. She felt mortified.

“Listen, I am so sorry. I drank way too much because I was anxious and I hope I didn’t ruin your shoes but I can pay for them if I did and I don’t know that guy was doing but-”

“shut up, it’s okay.” He replied gruffly, sliding his feet out of the shoes before they vanished into thin air. _Woah!_

“How did you-” Y/N had to pause to burp, “How did you do that?” She said in awe, looking up at him. He looked at her weirdly for a second before doing jazz hands. 

“magic.”

Ah, of course. It kind of bummed Y/N out that she couldn’t do it herself but she was happy the skeleton could do it. _Wait._

“I KNOW YOU!” She said loudly, which made him wince. She slouched a little bit as an apology before continuing. “You were at the fence on that….that night. You gave me my bag.” 

The skeleton looked conflicted for a moment and honestly, Y/N didn’t blame him. She had no control over her body or mouth right now and although drunk Y/N was in charge it didn’t mean sober Y/N couldn’t understand what was going on, or stop her from being so weird.

“Thank you for that. I don’t know if you heard me but I needed that.” Y/N says sincerely, giving him a smile. He seemed to relax a little bit at her smile and nodded awkwardly, taking the towel from her and throwing it somewhere behind him. Y/N stared at him for a little while longer, wondering how he was able to be so expressive and yet...boney. It was weird and although it wasn’t her first time meeting a monster this felt...different. Her brain was starting to hurt from trying to sort out all of her thoughts. Maybe she should just go to sleep.

“I’m gonna go to sleep.” Y/N states as if it’s the most normal thing. The skeleton looks confused before an alarmed look goes across his face. 

“what, now?”

Y/N thought about it for a second. This skeleton had been nice to her so far and she had no idea where her friends were. It seemed like a logical option. 

“Yeah. Goodnight, skeleton.”

Y/N then lays on the floor despite the skeleton above her trying to prevent her from sleeping but she succeeds and immediately falls asleep.   
_______________________________________________________  
The next morning, or what Y/N assumes is morning, her head feels like it’s splitting open. She sits up and quickly realizes that she is not in her dorm or anywhere that looks like a place she knows. Before she starts to panic she does the breathing techniques that her therapist taught her and thinks over everything that happened. 

The party, Noah, Monster alcohol, spinning, stairs, vomiting, skeleton. 

That same skeleton from The Incident. 

Another look around the room confirms that she is in the same room from that night but someone gave her a blanket and pillow. She is also wearing ...bone pajamas? At least she doesn’t smell like vomit. Y/N notices that the carpet seems to have been cleaned. God, she owes them so many apologizes. 

Y/N stands up and goes to the bathroom, finding a glass of water and migraine pills which she gratefully downs. She does her business and tries to fix her hair to the best of her ability before gaining the courage to go outside the comfort of her little shame room. But she has to go out and find her clothes and get to class, which she hopes to the stars she hasn’t missed. 

_Okay. Go outside, find the laundry room, and then uber home._

Of course, as soon as Y/N steps outside of the door she runs into something very hard and boney. She looks up and almost runs back inside the room when the skeleton glares at her. He’s very scary looking, with a deep cut running down his face and his clothes basically made of spikes. Yeah, everything about this dude screams DANGER. 

“I’m so sorry.” She mumbled, taking a step back with her eyes glued to the floor. 

The tall skeleton simply huffs at her and walks away, leaving Y/N grateful that she gets to live another day. She waits a few minutes before taking a few more steps and peeking down the stairs. She notices that a bunch of other people seemed to crash here too which makes her feel a lot better about her whole situation. Surely she can just sneak out and go unnoticed with so many hungover college students.

“Hey Y/N.” Noah whispered into her ear which made Y/N scream and almost jumps out of her skin. She whips around and fixes him with the most despicable glare while a few students let out a groan at the sudden noise. Noah just stands there smiling smugly. 

“I hate you.” She says coldly, crossing her arms as he chuckles at her. Before she can open her mouth again though, Noah explains to her that she was okay and that he was the one who had changed her last night. 

“Dude you should have seen Red come out of that room. I have never seen him so flustered.” Noah laughs loudly, his curls bouncing along with him. “But hey, at least you didn’t *throw* yourself at him last night.” He continues to laugh, tears forming in his eyes as Y/N just continues to stare at him.

“Can you just please give me my clothes? I’m already embarrassed enough and I just want to leave.” She pleaded, shifting her weight as she glances towards the door downstairs. Just as Noah goes to tell her where to grab them, another skeleton interrupts them. But this time Y/N recognizes him, his name was Papyrus and he goes around campus a lot. He talks about how he is the “Mascot for Monsters” and even helped her carry her groceries one time. 

“OH! HELLO HUMAN.” Papyrus says, his voice as loud as ever and making Y/N wince slightly. “I HAVE MADE A POST PARTY BREAKFAST DOWNSTAIRS IF YOU WOULD LIKE SOME. NORMALLY I ONLY SAVE MY COOKING FOR MY BEST OF FRIENDS BUT YOUR CHOICE OF PAJAMAS TELL ME THAT YOU MUST BE A BEST FRIEND I JUST HAVEN’T MET YET!”

_Yes, I want to be your best friend immediately._ Y/N thinks to herself, a smile crawling onto her face as she thanks him before he runs off. Literally. She turns back to Noah who somehow grabbed her clothes while she was talking to Papyrus. 

“There is a bathroom right down there. Just go change and I’ll meet you downstairs for breakfast.” He says, sending her a wink before going down the stairs. Y/N rolls her eyes at his stupid attitude and goes to change in the bathroom. She folds the pajamas neatly on top of the laundry basket inside the bathroom and quickly makes her way down the stairs.

The kitchen was much more alive than the rest of the house, figuratively and literally. There Monsters and humans walking around, grabbing bowls and silverware while others were off to the side talking to each other. It reminded Y/N a lot of the student cafeteria on campus if the cafeteria had dishes magically moving around and flipping pancakes. There was something cozy about the atmosphere though, maybe it was the soft light filtering through the large windows or the fact that all the conversations were soft spoken but it wrapped around Y/N like a warm sweater, her mind wandering off.

“Hello? Earth to Y/N?” Someone said, snapping their fingers in her face multiple times. She felt her cheeks heat up as Noah looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Sorry, lost in thought. What were you saying?” She says softly, running a hand through her hair as she gives him an apologetic smile which he accepts with one of his own. Noah waves a hand dismissively and gives her a plate of pancakes, pointing over to a small breakfast nook. 

“I’ve got us set up over there to sit down. I figured you might want to sit instead of stand just in case.” He joked at her, elbowing her gently as she stuck out her tongue and walked over to sit down. Y/N usually loved to joke around but she would rather just forget everything that happened that night. She couldn’t even think about last night without waves of embarrassment washing over her. 

“well, well, well. if it isn’t miss upchuck herself.” Someone singsonged behind her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. _Fuck me, dude._

Y/N goes to turn only to be completely overwhelmed by the giant Monster next to her. She didn’t remember him being that big last night but he took up most of her eyesight. But now that she wasn’t drunk she could take in everything she had missed last night, like his gold tooth that seemed to catch the light from the window. He certainly didn’t look like a normal skeleton. His skull was more round and the bones that she could see were about as thick as her wrist. Of course she knew that they weren’t **actually** human skeletons but it was still a little unnerving. 

“heh, you were supposed to laugh.” Red said, his eyelights looking off to the side as a drop of...sweat(?) appeared on top of his skull. _Huh, weird._

Y/N flushed and cleared her throat, embarrassment making her voice sound croaky. “Sorry, sorry. Um…” She trailed off, unsure what was the best way to apologize to someone that was bathed in her stomach contents last night. “What’s up, chuck?” She mumbles the joke out, her hands wringing together under the table as she kicked herself over how stupid she sounded. 

Red stared at the girl for a minute before his grin turned absolutely huge. He barked out a laugh that startled a couple of people around them which made Y/N look up and crack a small smile of her own. 

“But seriously um-” She said, her eyes trying to convey just how sorry she was. “I really am sorry. I don’t normally do that and I’m serious about paying you back. It’s the least I can do.” 

“nah, don’t worry about. i’ve been covered in worse shit. literally.” 

Y/N wanted to ask about it but she knew it would probably make her lose her appetite so she just shrugs and turns to her now cold pancakes. She started to cut them up and eat until she realized that Red was still next to her, watching her eat. She tried to ignore him at first but it was slightly starting to creep her out. Y/N turns her chair back towards him and puts her fork back on her plate. 

“Is everything okay?” She asks pointedly, her eyebrows raised just slightly as he just continues to stare at her. After two minutes of silence she lets out a puff of air and turns back to her food. He said everything was okay so why is he staring at her like she something was wrong? Maybe she should say something? But what?

“Why did you try to save that kid?” Red asks slowly, watching as she tensed up at the question before her eyes kind of glazed over. 

It was like all of a sudden Y/N was transported back to that moment. Blood. Stars. Magic. Violence. Loss. The edges of her eyes were starting to get hazy as her mind started to turn on her, to try and get her to go back to everything she had tried to work through. She didn’t want to go back but it was like she couldn’t stop, her heart started beating faster and faster until she felt a strong tug on her arm. Just like that night. 

“breathe.” A voice whispered in her ear. 

Suddenly she drew in a huge gasp of air, like she had just come out of a cold, dark sea. Red was holding onto her arm this time and watching as she came back to reality. He looked around and was thankful that nobody had noticed anything, except for her friend Noah, who was chatting with Papyrus but kept moving his gaze back to Y/N. Red gave him a nod to signal it was okay. 

Y/N looked down at Red’s hand that was still wrapped around her arm. She counted the grooves on his fingers to ground herself until she felt sure enough to look back up at him. His eyes seemed to hold concern for her but that look was gone so fast that she thought she had imagined it. Y/N slowly drew her arm closer to her which made Red withdraw his hand. 

“What choice did I have? He needed help.” She spoke softly, almost as if saying it out loud would cause physical pain. “Just like you helped me.” 

Y/N watched as Red almost jerked back from that statement, like she had slapped him. But she knew he helped her, he helped ground her and find her bag because he saw what she had seen. He felt compelled to help her for some reason and Y/N will always keep that gesture locked away in her heart because it had given her a little bit of hope back. It was what she held onto when she was in her dorm all alone, when she faced the cameras and told everyone that Monsters could not be bad. She knew this because of Red, because he had shown her kindness when he could have easily turned away. 

“I didn’t help you.” Red said angrily, standing up and looking down at her. “I just felt pity for you. Don’t ever say I did.” 

Y/N’s eyebrows creased together in confusion as he stomped off, a frown pulling her face down as she stared at the spot he was just at. Maybe she was wrong, maybe he was just taking pity on a girl that couldn’t save someone. The thought started to consume her, her hands shakily pushing out her own chair and standing up to walk out the door. She saw Noah try to step up to her but she shook her head, vision blurry with unshed tears as she just needed to be alone which thankfully he understood. Y/N grabbed her shoes and slipped them on while tears started flowing down her cheeks before she walked out the front door.


End file.
